|
|
TAT contributor Gokalp has
performed invaluable research exposing the fakery behind certain widely
distributed images presuming to be "genocide evidence." Some of
these have been featured on TAT's "Forgeries" page, but the new discoveries here, often
from Armenian sources, are simply stunning.
Gokalp has written an introduction to his discoveries, but has not had the
time to finish the article. This slightly edited intro has been presented, but
the main value of this page regards his exposés for the notorious images in
question.
|
|
|
| Armenian
Photo falsifications Exposed –Yet again |
It is sometimes necessary to lie damnably in the interests of the nation.
Hilaire Belloc 1870-1953, British Author
"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”
Exodus 20:16
In 2005 Prof. Turkkaya Ataöv was in the University of California at Los Angeles when he
saw a Poster calling for a meeting about the events of 1915. He instantly realized that
there was something terribly wrong with it. In the Poster Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the
founding father of the modern Turkish republic was sitting on a chair while a corpse of a
poor starved child was lying under his feet. After Ataöv returned to Turkey he found the
original photo, and there were four little dogs in front of the seat occupied by Atatürk
instead of a dead body. Ataöv immediately publicized this forgery in a prominent Turkish
newspaper, “Hürriyet”.
The Armenian Diaspora, lobbying organizations and the professors participating in the
meeting were not thrilled. They kept a low profile about the issue and when somebody did
respond the answer was calm and simple, along the lines of “the photo manipulation
was made only to draw attention and to make a point." A somewhat good and convincing
argument, one might say… But Mustafa Kemal being a middle rank officer who was fighting
in the western (Dardanelles) front at that time had not been involved in the Ethnic
conflict or civil war between Turks/Kurds and Armenians. He was not involved in the
relocations by any means. This fact brings out the question; What was the point?
Could it be that “Armenians can use any means — ethical or not — for the
interest of their nation”?
Armenians employed all types of falsifications and forgeries since the beginning of their
“Cause." The famous Hitler quote “Who, after all, speaks today of the
extermination of the Armenians?” for example never existed in the Nuremberg trials.
Actually the court rejected that version of the speech on the grounds that it was altered.
This fabrication despite being proven to be “highly dubious” at best, still shows up
in many genocide web pages, many pro-Armenian demonstrations and even in the USA's
congressional resolutions. “The Andonian documents," which involve supposedly
secret Ottoman documentations giving direct massacre orders, have been proven to be
forgeries. Today there is no single decent historian (apart from notorious Armenian “historians”
as Dadrian) who will use these fabrications in any kind of research. Yet quotations from
these fake letters and telegrams are all over the “Genocide” museum walls and
monuments erected after the event. But Who, after all, speaks today of the fact that
these are forgeries…
|
The History of Armenian
Photo Falsifications
|
|
|
|
Erich Feigl's caption partly reads: "Vicious
propaganda comes in various forms. One of the
most sinister is the hidden falsification... Casual
observers — and they are... the majority — will
inevitably make a connection between Talaat and the
crania on the cover." (From "A Myth of Terror.")
See TAT's
"Tessa Hofmann" page
for more.
|
The history of Armenian photo falsifications
start with the publication of the book "Der Völkermord an den Armenien vor
Gericht. Der Prozess Talaat Pascha," in 1920 (or 1921) in Berlin. On The
cover of the book there is a horrid pyramid of skulls which is accompanied by a
picture of Talat Pasha, the Ottoman Minister of the Interior. The book presented the
image as a proof of the “Ottoman” barbarity. The “photo” appeared also in
1352 copies of a "well published" book entitled The Massacre of Armenians
(Katliami Ermeniyan), by Ismail Ra'in, in 1979 Iran... supported by "some
Armenian circles during the Shah's time." The Persian legend under the “photograph”
says: Serha-yi eramene-ike katliam shudend der sal 1917 (or "the skulls of
Armenians massacred in the year 1917"). But the real great public appearance of
this “photo” was in Canada. It was enlarged and shown to the Canadian public in
the 1970's, in the Yerevan Pavillion at the annual Metro International Caravan
festivities in Toronto, as proof of the Armenian "Genocide." Further, the
daily Nova-Svetlina, dated April 23, 1985, of Bulgaria, published an article
entitled "Tragic Memories" (Tragichni Spomeni) and signed by an Armenian,
M.Sofian. It reproduces the same pictures with the following legend: "The
terrifying traces of barbaric massacres of the Armenians in Turkey in the year
1915." Also it was printed on to Postcards by "Committee for Support to
Max Hrair Kilnjian" in France.
But the truth behind this “photo," which “displays the evil nature of the
Turks “and their ”organized violence against Armenians”, was a bit different…
This “Photo” was not a photo at all but a painting by a Russian artist Vassili
Vereshchagin (1842-1904). This Russian painting named "The Apotheosis of
War," was created in 1871 and it still hangs in the Tretyakov Gallery in
Moscow. Only after Prof. Ataöv exposed the truth about this so called photographic
evidence in 1980 it slowly faded away in the depths of the Armenian propaganda.
It indeed is puzzling to see that this outrageous and careless falsification really
made it that far. But thanks to the immense prejudices of the western public and
their reluctance to hear what the Turks say, the quick recipe of preparing careless
fake and falsified photos still works very well today.
|
| Armenian
Photo “Arsenal” |
We all know that in most cases “seeing is believing” and that is the point where
Armenians are lacking any hardcore material. The real bulk of Armenian photographic
documentation comes from two sources: Armin
Theophil Wegner and the Near East Relief.
The Near East Relief photos mainly show Armenians who are in relocation camps and being
aided by the organization. The question, which is generally not posed about these photos,
is “do they prove genocide or disprove it." After all, it is absurd for a
government, which is pursuing a goal of extermination, to let an international aid
organization to help the people that are meant to perish. If you stab someone you don’t
let a doctor near him. If you wish to kill people by starvation you don’t let them get
help. However, since the 100 years of Armenian propaganda arrests the basic logic of many
individuals. This simple discrepancy is overlooked and these photos are there to “prove
the genocide."
Armin T. Wegner was a German soldier who enrolled as a volunteer nurse in Poland at the
outbreak of World War I during the winter of 1914-1915. He traveled along the Baghdad
railroad in Mesopotamia. He gathered information on Armenians, collected documents,
annotations, notes, and letters and took many photographs in the Armenian relocation
camps. Later He dedicated a great part of his life to the fight for Armenian cause.
Again His photos mostly show the daily life of the relocated Armenians apart from these
are several pictures showing people who died of starvation or disease. There are only a
handful of photos by Armin Wegner that show corpse remains or skulls of people who he
claims to be of Armenians. The trouble with these photos, however, is that they are far
from present proof of a whole scale organized massacre.
There is no doubt that Armenians suffered terribly and there is no doubt that many
Armenians were killed in a country, which was in a word war and civil war in the same
time. But when it comes to saying 1.5 million were killed systematically, the Armin Wenger
photos which show a total of couple of dozens of people with unidentifiable ethnicity is
in no way a serious documentation.
|
Photo Fakery:
Alive and Well
|
The above served as Gokalp's introduction, and what will
follow are his discoveries, along with some thoughts of his that have been
incorporated into the text.
This photo is all over the place. Above, it appears on a YouTube video. It has also appeared
on Rudy Rummel's "Democide"
site (Gokalp pointed out the fakery to Rudy, and at least Rudy added a note of
caution; but come on, Rudy. You're supposed to be a "professor,"
and it doesn't take much brains to figure out what's what. Rudy still can't shake
his deep belief in "cilicia.com," where he got the photo, a site that
represents the law to the faithful genocide believer that Rudy is.) The photo
has also appeared on Wikipedia, dressing its "Anti-Armenianism" page, but
of course, Wikipedia has been taken over by Armenians and their supporters. Better
termed "Wicked"pedia, the online encyclopedia can easily be manipulated by
those with the strongest numbers and tenacity, and is a source that cannot be
trusted, save only for the most innocuous of topics.
And here is the version from a site called "Bibleprobe":
The caption reads "Turkish soldiers proudly posing with bodies of their
Christian victims. To these Muslims, the 'Christians were like animals to be
hunted.'" (The article on Bibleprobe was written by retired Navy man
Steve Keohane, a "historian" whose real job is a real estate appraiser in
Massachusetts, and a hopelessly faithful — and hateful — Christian. (Jesus would
be the first to tell us that hateful Christians are pseudo-Christians.)
 |
|
An
Ottoman soldier, as depicted in
Andrew Goldberg's PBS propaganda,
"The Armenian
Genocide." |
While Rudy Rummel wrote in his half-hearted
disclaimer that the soldiers "appear to be wearing Russian and not Turkish
army uniforms," one only needs a pair of good eyes to see whether that is
the case or not. The ones wearing the fur hats look like Cossacks, and the
"Cossack hat" is well-known. (Here is a company that sells them;
note the photos.) But the real giveaway are the ones wearing the caps, that
viewers of Dr. Zhivago will recognize instantly. The greatwardifferent.com
site gives us an excellent idea of the Russian war uniforms of the period, on this page. ("Russian soldiers as portrayed on the covers of
'Lukomorie' a Russian magazine.") The same site also displays nine
different military uniforms of Ottoman soldiers, on this page. (Another page gives us a more detailed look at the costume of the Ottomans.)
It is really a "no-brainer." The "professor," Rudy Rummel, has
no excuse; but, of course, he — as the rest of the "genocide scholars"
— only care about affirming their agendas, and are strangers to the concept
of "honest research."
As detailed in TAT's "Forgeries" page, this photo, when blown-up,
reveal the victims to be circumcised, which tells us the victims were not
Christians, but most likely Muslims, or even Jews.
But let's move on with "proof positive."
Here is another variation of the photo, curiously plastered on a bonafide
"Armenian genocide" web site, the Comité de Défense de la Cause
Arménienne, or The Armenian National Committee of France (CDCA), "the largest
French-Armenian grassroots political organization."
And do you know what the site says? The photo is from 1904, and that the ones
who have committed the massacres are Cossacks. (Since the site's idea is to
stress 1915, your guess is as good as mine as to why they went with
"evidence" from 1904, with culprits who weren't even Turks. In case they
see this, and change their wording, what is below is a screenshot of their
page, as from April 2008.)
|
| Turkish Victims Massacred by Armenians Become Armenian |
The photo above has been shamelessly appropriated by genocidists, which
is really awful, given that the victims were Turkish/Muslim victims of the Armenians. The
scene is from Kars Subatan, 1918, and the original photo is in the Turkish Army Archives. (Note the frayed
edges, direct from the negative.)
 |
|
Bibleprobe
also used the above familiar
shot with the caption: "Turkish soldiers
posing proudly with the decapitated heads
of Armenian community leaders, 1915." The
odds are that the victims were Bulgarians,
beheaded by Serbs in 1905; see the TAT
Forgeries page. |
The aforementioned Bibleprobe site has featured this shot,
naming it "christianbodies7." The shot has seen wide usage in Armenian
videos in YouTube. A German
television channel has used this picture in a news editorial about the Armenian
genocide resolution.
(The picture comes up at 00:55.)
An article in the Turkish Armenians blogspot tells us that Armenians also used pictures
from the 1992 Khojali massacre of Azeri civilians as if they were Armenians. Gokalp asks, "Is
this an innocent mistake or a deliberate attempt to enrich the Armenian photo
arsenal?"
|
The
Famous "Starving Mother and Child" Photo
|
Caption by Erich Feigl, "The Myth of Terror."
Now we know where this photograph came
from! And we have another bonafide "Armenian genocide" web site to thank.
(It is the aga-online.org site, or AGA, a German site that stands for
"Acknowledgement Against Genocide" (Or something like that.)
The photo comes courtesy of a book that the French published for propaganda.
It is named “The famine in Lebanon. French assistance to Lebanonese (people of
Lebanon) during the great war”
The rough translation of the caption accompanying the pages above, from here:
"Hunger emergency in Lebanon 1915-1919: In 1922 a French magazine published
photos showing obviously homeless persons, often half-naked or naked victims of the
hunger emergency in Lebanon, probably Armenians. Some are looking for food in the
garbage, and others are dead."
Note that the book is describing the starving people as “PROBABLY” Armenians. So
basically there is no way to prove that they are Armenians. Yet, as Gokalp pointed
out, we do know several things: 1. The French did not help Arabs or Muslims. 2.
Armenians were a very small minority in Lebanon. 3. The French were in league
with Maronite Christians, and they were the main Christian minority.
No surprise the Turks are to blame again; as good old Rudy Rummel wrote: “During
the war the British navy blockaded Turkey, including the Turkish Levant. No food was
allowed in by sea. The resulting famine in Lebanon and Syria (with consequences
shown on lines 208a to 208d) would not have become as deadly as it did had not the
Turks commandeered available food supplies and refused to help the starving. As a
result they bear the greater responsibility for the famine, which I calculate as
probably around 75 percent of the total dead (line 208i).“
(As if calculating famine responsibility would be an exact science; Rudy, Rudy...
Rudy. Let's not forget, gang, that this was during a desperate time where "all
over Turkey thousands of the populace were daily dying of starvation," as
Ambassador Morgenthau himself instructed
us. Thousands of Ottoman soldiers were dying of famine (see link), the situation was
that desperate; of course the available food would have been commandeered to feed
this first line of defense. If the powers were making sure no food was coming in, we
don't blame the victims for causing the famine.)
A German source, misplaced for now, described the famine as follows: “1916-1918
hunger emergency in Turkish-German occupied Lebanon during the First World War due
to an allied sea-blockade as well as requisitioning by the badly supplied troops; in
addition due to the high specialization degree of the Lebanese agriculture, where
basic food imported and instead e.g. viticulture and silk crawler-type vehicle breed
were operated (approx. 100,000 dead ones, in at that time of 450.000 humans
inhabited area).”
ADDENDUM,
9-08:
Take a look at the
poor mother and child (sitting on lap) above, almost identical
to the famous one we all know. These poor victims were either
Russians or Ukrainians, among the millions who suffered in
1921. Armenian propagandists could have as easily cropped
out the lower left side of the above photograph, claiming the
victims to be Armenians. (From the book, History of the World.)
|
| Heads or Tales |
Do we all recognize this one? The "heads" are often presented either as genocide
victims or as Armenian notables. Steve Keohane of Bibleprobe provided the following
caption: "Heads of Christians, traditionally treated like trophies by the
Turks." (Yes, Mr. Keohane is surely an expert on the
traditions of the Turks.)
The AGA site
gets to the bottom of the story behind this photo; we are given the names of these heads
as well as the source. They are the members of Dashnaktsutiun and resided in a village in
Iran. From its own page:
"... If such partisans fell into the hands of the Ottoman authorities, they had to
count on execution. The photo shows the heads of eight of nine Armenians from the village
Mahlam in Salmast (Iran), who were executed on 26 October 1898 on instruction of the
Ottoman government and to which the Dashnaktsutiun had belonged to a social-revolutionary
Armenian party. It concerned Chatschatur Harutjunjan out of Moks (left above), Harutjun
out of Ulnia (Sejtun), Stepan of Chisan, Harik of Schatach, Gabriel Muradjan, Nahapet
Jeriasarjan ("Nacho" from Wosm), Harutjun Chatschatrjan out of Moks as well as
Galust Galojan. Awetis Ohanjan, the ninth victim, is not to be seen in the picture."
The source is none other than the official news organ of the Dashnaktsutiun, "The
Droshak," Jan. 31, 1899, S. 5.
As these Dashnaks were executed in October of 1898, Gokalp has made the excellent point
that since the time window somewhat fits, "we can easily and rightfully assume
that these are the ones who are responsible" of the events recorded below; it's
very possible some of these desperadoes got nabbed in the following year:
 |
|
The Reported
Armenian Aggression.
|
From The Liverpool Courier, August 10,1897:
The Reported Armenian Aggression.
Terrible Barbarities.
Constantinople, Sunday.
The following telegram was received to-day by the Porte from Veli? : — On August 6th
several thousand Armenian agitators crossed the frontier from Persia and attacked the
Mizriki tribe, killing about two hundred persons, among whom were women and children. They
further put the wife of the chief of the tribe to the most cruel death, and cut off the
noses of several others of their victims. It is officially declared that the necessary
precautions have been taken by the Imperial authorities not only to capture these
marauders, but also to provide against eventualities in the vilayet of Van. The Ottoman
Government has also requested the Persian Government to arrest these criminal bands, who
on being pursued by Turkish troops may attempt to recross the frontier. The Persian
Government is also urged to take proper measures for preventing in future these incursions
of Armenian revolutionaries into Turkish territory. — Reuter,
 |
|
THE RECENT
ARMENIAN RAID.
|
From The Bristol Times And Mirror, September 9, 1897:
THE RECENT ARMENIAN RAID.
TEHERAN, TUESDAY.
A prolonged inquiry has just been concluded by the Persian authorities regarding the
Armenian raid on the Turco-Persian frontiers last month, which was followed by serious
fighting between Armenians and Kurds, with heavy losses on both sides. The result of the
inquiry shows that the bulk of the raiders were from Turkish territory, and that fewer
than 300 came from Persia. Nine villages were sacked, and there were massacred over 300
Mussulmans and Christians, including women and children. Twenty-nine of the ringleaders
have been arrested, and handed over to the authorities to be dealt with. — Reuter.
Once again, TAT's Forgeries page.
|
|
